Pan Banana

Copyright 2011 Christine's Pantry. All rights reserved.

All widely cultivated bananas today descend from the two wild bananas Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. While the original wild bananas contained large seeds, diploid or polyploid cultivars (some being hybrids) with tiny seeds are preferred for human raw fruit consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time; a larger one for immediate fruiting and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" to produce fruit in 6–8 months. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates.

Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. Lacking seeds, propagation typically involves removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm). Usually this is done by carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot that develops from the base of the banana pseudostem) with some roots intact. 

However, small sympodial corms, representing not yet elongated suckers, are easier to transplant and can be left out of the ground for up to 2 weeks; they require minimal care and can be shipped in bulk.

It is not necessary to include the corm or root structure to propagate bananas; severed suckers without root material can be propagated in damp sand, although this takes somewhat longer.

In some countries, commercial propagation occurs by means of tissue culture. This method is preferred since it ensures disease-free planting material. When using vegetative parts such as suckers for propagation, there is a risk of transmitting diseases (especially the devastating Panama disease).

By http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#Historical_cultivation

As a non seasonal crop, bananas are available fresh year round.

Pan Banana

Copyright 2011 Christine's Pantry. All rights reserved.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3 bananas, peeled and sliced

Directions:

In a skillet, melt butter over medium low heat. Once butter has melted, add brown sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger and bananas, Stir gently. Heat through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Serve warm. Enjoy!